Sunday, February 26, 2006

Republicans Have Plan to Get Hillary Elected

One can only assume that the Republicans of South Dakota are gunning to get Hillary Rodham elected President. Whatever your view is on abortion, if you are a Republican, you have to believe that Sout Dakota’s move to outlaw abortion has got to be about the dumbest political move for a party to have made in the past century.Perhaps Gov. Mike Rounds (R) will ruin his career but save his party’s chances to when the 2008 Presidential election by vetoing the SD state legislature’s bill. That’s not likely though.

The next step will be a court challenge. It will not take long to make its way to the US Supreme Court and they won’t be able to skirt it. It’s no mystery that the current Court will not uphold Roe.

Hillary Rodham must be licking her chops. A majority of Americans would prefer that Roe stand. So Hillary Rodham will not only have that working in her favor, but also the ire of moderate female voters who will not be happy with the idea of fat white bastards telling them what they can and cannot do regarding pregnancy and abortion. We can also expect Republicans to loose their majority in the Senate and perhaps even the House.

The fall-out of Roe being overturned will be sad for the country for several reasons:

Over time, the country will become more geographically polarized. Abortion is a “litmus test” issue. Since the overthrow of Roe will put it back to the states to determine their own abortion laws, some will keep it legal, some will not. In the end, Democrats will tend to congregate even more in blue states and conservatives even more in red states. The rest of us won’t have much chance of finding a place to live that has some political balance anywhere in the country.

Perhaps the worst outcome will be that the current batch of idiots in Washington might reopen the Constitution for amendments. Even those in favor of abortion have to admit that Roe was always on shaky Constitutional grounds. With abortion back in the hands of states, a federal law on the matter would make little difference. State’s rights will trump any federal abortion law, no matter how well crafted. So, that leaves only a Constitutional amendment to legalize abortion throughout the land.

That certainly would be a scary thought for everyone that is anti-abortion. But, it should also be a scary thought for anyone that cares about the country and its Constitution. Contemporary politicians are not even a shadow of the giants that formed this country. Once the Constitution has been opened up for amendments, Hillary and Co. will not stop at legalizing abortion. A Constitutional debate among the current crop of politicians might lead anywhere, but the likely result will be a country that has little respect for individual liberty.

For a classically liberal individual like me, that is a nightmare scenario. I'm no fan of abortion, but I care more about individual rights and liberty than any other issue. Because it was such a poorly crafted decision, it has always been inevitable that Roe would be overturned. But, Republicans did not have to move this fast to make so.

As Alan Greenspan pointed out in a speech recently, the political terrain is ripe for a third party. His argument was that the two political parties are way out on the extremes, while most of the American public lumps in the middle. Actually, I'd go a step further and say that, except on a couple of issues, the two political parties look more alike than ever. They both are interested in controlling as many aspects of our lives and decisions as possible.

Only a third party can save us from this mess. Obviously, with the rigged political system we live under, it's not likely to emerge.

2 Comments:

consti-what? Constitutional? Like that walk I used to take in the evening before I was forced to take the second job to support my ex in the lap of luxury while I live in abject poverty under threat of imprisonment? Is that what you meant? My evening walk? Because I'm not sure there is anything else by that name that has much meaning for men anymore.

Yeah, it's that strange document that was put together by greater minds than we have had in this country for a long time. It is ignored, except when it can be politicized. So, I guess you're right. At most, you should look to your evening walk for your constitution.

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